Broome Community College to offer 3 sessions on Marcellus Shale

Sep. 22, 2010

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TOWN OF DICKINSON -- Broome Community College will host a series of presentations on the Southern Tier's rich natural gas deposits and the hydraulic fracturing process, the college announced Wednesday.

The first of three sessions will take place at 11 a.m. Thursday in Room 102 of Titchener Hall on the BCC campus.

Dubbed "Hydrofracking 101," the Thursday session will provide basic information on the Marcellus Shale and hydrofracking, a drilling technique in which a mix of water, sand and chemicals is blasted underground to fracture shale formations and release gas. It will also include information about the Marcellus Shale formation and the fluids used in the fracking process, according to the college.

Thursday's featured presenter will be Rob Ross, associate director of outreach for the Ithaca-based Paleontological Research Institute and the Museum of the Earth.

Subsequent presentations will take a look at the economic and social implications of natural gas drilling as well as the environmental risks associated with hydrofracking. The second and third sessions will take place Oct. 21 and Nov. 11, and more information is expected to be released shortly, BCC spokesman Richard David said.